What Are The Signs of a Healthy Dog?

Owners who truly love their dogs usually take all measures to make sure that their dogs are healthy, happy and active. The moment a pup is brought home, it becomes the owner's moral responsibility to take care of its well-being. Let us go throughout the signs which would testify your dog's health.

The sight of the healthy dog brimming with a happy face is all that a dog-loving owner wants to start his day with. Apart from a 'cold wet nose', your dog needs to show the signs of good health in various other ways to ensure his well-being. Hence, it is important to check out the indications that signify that your dog is growing healthily. 

A dog with a problem-free fur and skin, ears and nose, eyes, fitness-level, urine and feces and teeth is basically considered as having a good health. A dog coat tells a lot about his health. A shiny, bouncy, tick-free, soft-to-touch coat is the first sign of a healthy dog. The skin of a dog should also be a parameter to judge for any signs of bad-health, infection or lack of well-being in a dog.

Signs like a smooth and soft skin without sight of any open soar, infection, red-patches, allergies, scales and scab or abnormal growth are highly recommended for a healthy dog. Also, the owner should make sure that the dog's body should be free from all sorts of parasites, bugs, ticks, fleas etc which suck the nutrients from the dog's body and make the pet prone to infections and diseases. 

Clean and wax-free ears are anther attribute of a healthy dog. The owner should make sure that the dog's ears is free from any kind of bleeding, soar or redness, bad odor or swelling. 

A healthy dog reflects a set of white sparkling teeth and no loose gums and dark lining in the teeth, and this requires regular brushing and check-ups and proper dental-hygiene. 

The next thing that testifies your dog's well-being is his sparkling and moist eyes with a heart-melting twinkle in them. The area around the eyeball is supposed to have a pink border. Make sure that your dog's eyes are kept clean with no thick yellowish discharge from there. Eyes being one of the most important parts of its body reflect health and happiness of the dog's body and mind. 

Another sign of good health in a dog is the lack of any foul smell from its mouth. The gums of the dog should also be in good condition without any sort of infection and bleeding. Healthy gums appear pinkish or pink-tainted, whereas pale gums is a sign of anemia. Make sure that your dog's gums show no signs of periodontal disease like Gingivitis which include redness, soaring or inflated gums.

The nose of a healthy dog is always cold and wet to touch. However, make sure that your dog's nose is free from foul-smelling, thick or yellowish discharge, which in a young pup may mean some illness and physical ailments. 

The normal body temperature of a dog is 101 degree F. Anything less than 100 F and more than 103 F should be a matter of concern for the dog's owner as it is regarded unhealthy. 

Last but not the least; the healthy dog's urine is either white or yellow in color. Presence of blood or other harmful component can be detected from brownish or reddish colored urine. Likewise, the stool-color of a healthy dog is firm and brown without any tinge of red or black.

Still one more point...

A dog with any illness may exhibit unpredictable aggression to his pack members. His pack members includes any other pets in your house and you and you family. Any physical and psychological irritation will adversely influence the mental stability, which even holds good for you and me.